The Kingdom Forge Podcast
The Kingdom Forge Podcast is where raw faith meets real struggle. Hosted by Javier and part of Grace & Grind Ministries, this show dives into honest conversations about following Jesus in the heat of life’s battles. From doubt and temptation to unanswered prayers and everyday pressures, the forge is where God shapes us into something stronger.
This is not about easy answers or surface-level faith. It is about wrestling with hard questions, finding encouragement in Scripture, and learning to live boldly for Christ in a broken world. If you are longing for real talk, biblical wisdom, and practical steps for walking with Jesus, you are in the right place.
Welcome to the forge—where faith is tested, character is refined, and the Kingdom is built one conversation at a time.
The Kingdom Forge Podcast
Into the Fire: Finding God in the Forge: Premiere Episode Of The Kingdom Forge
Welcome to the Kingdom Forge Podcast. Raw faith, real struggle, true transformation. This is a space to get real about faith, to be honest about the struggles we face and to discover how God shapes us through the fire. If you've ever felt the heat of the forge, you're not alone. Let's step into the process together. Here is your host, javier.
Speaker 2:Welcome, friends, to the very first episode of the Kingdom Forge podcast. My name is Javier and if you've followed me before on the Compass Chronicles, faith, fandom and Life podcast, you know I love storytelling, whether it's comics, film or fantasy, and in that space we often explored how those fictional narratives mirror the deeper echoes of truth, hope and faith in our own lives. But here in the Kingdom Forge, the focus is different. This is not about imagined worlds or fictional heroes. This is about you and me and our real stories, the stories in our bones, the kind you can't polish up for Instagram, the kind that don't fit neatly into a church handshake line. It's about the battles, the burns, the doubts and, ultimately, the faith that gets tested in the fire.
Speaker 2:Why Forge? Because a forge is raw, messy, loud. It's fire, sparks shooting air, thick with heat, steel glowing red as the hammer falls. From the outside it might look like destruction, but in the hands of the blacksmith, every strike, every moment inside the flames is part of a process. It's not random. It's intentional, careful and purposeful, and that is what I believe God is doing in us. The truth is, life will hand you days when faith feels effortless and worship pours out naturally. But it will also bring days when everything you thought you knew about God feels swallowed in silence. We experience both, often side by side, and the question in those moments is not whether or not we'll face the fire. The question is whether we'll let the fire destroy or refine us.
Speaker 2:What excites me about launching this podcast is the opportunity to get real together, to drop the mask and admit that faith isn't always polished. Sometimes it feels like fire. Sometimes it feels like fire. Sometimes it leaves us bruised, sometimes it's met with silence. But through it all, there is a master craftsman who knows exactly what he's shaping us into. And before we go any further, I want to pause and say thank you. I don't take it lightly that you're here. Life is busy and there are a hundred other ways you could be spending these minutes. The fact that you hit play, that you chose to step into this space with me that matters To me. It means you also sense there's more to explore, something about God, about your own walk, about the bigger story you're a part of. That is worth slowing down for.
Speaker 2:This podcast will not be about easy answers. It won't be about motivational cliches. What I hope it will be is a companion on the journey, a place where honesty is valued, where the messy parts of faith are not hidden but seen as part of the process. The forge is where strength is born. The forge is where hidden weaknesses are exposed and pressed into something enduring. The forge is where God meets us, not with shame for being in the fire, but with presence in the middle of it. And as we journey through this together, week by week, I want you to know you are not alone. Whatever season you are in, whatever fire you are walking through, there is one who holds you in it and there is a community, this community, that can carry it with you. So here's my prayer as we begin this very first episode Lord, forge something in us, in me, in those listening in this space.
Speaker 2:Take what is raw, what is hidden, what feels weak, and shape it into strength for your kingdom. If the kingdom forge is going to matter, then it has to begin with honesty. Not just the kind of honesty where you admit I skipped my morning devotionals this week, but the real kind of honesty that says I'm exhausted, I'm doubting, I don't feel God right now and I don't know what to do with that. Because here's the truth. Every one of us knows what sorrow feels like. Every one of us has carried burdens that seem too heavy, and pretending otherwise doesn't make the pain go away. If anything, it isolates us more.
Speaker 2:One of the most powerful verses about this is in Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2. It's interesting, isn't it? He doesn't say carry your own load quietly, so no one finds out you're weak. He doesn't say muscle through so you look spiritual. He says carry each other's burdens. That means faith was never meant to be a solo project. Think about this for a moment. If the call of Christ is summed up in love, loving God and loving neighbor, then carrying each other's burdens is the most clearly Christ-like thing we can do, because love doesn't leave someone crushed under weight alone. Love says here let me shoulder part of that, let me cry with you, let me sit with you in this.
Speaker 2:But if the command is to carry each other's burdens, then that also means I need to be willing to share mine, and that's often the harder part, isn't it? To admit I'm not doing well. I need help, I need prayer that takes deep humility here in the Kingdom Forge. I want this space to be exactly that kind of place, a place where we practice honesty, where we can say this is heavy, I can't hold it alone. And in that honesty something powerful happens. Shame begins to lose its grip Because shame thrives in secrecy. It whispers you're the only one struggling. If you admit it, they'll think less of you. And so we keep silent. But the moment we drag that shame into the light, it starts to crumble. Why? Because it's met not with condemnation but with grace.
Speaker 2:Carrying each other's burdens doesn't mean we fix each other. It doesn't mean we always have the right words or solutions. Sometimes it simply means showing up, listening, saying I'm here. Do you know how healing those simple words can be? I felt this in my own life. The times I've been most broken weren't always fixed by some sudden miracle. Many times, what helped me breathe again was someone else stepping in to carry part of the weight. Their presence reminded me I wasn't abandoned. That is what Paul was inviting the church at Galatia to understand, and it's what we need to reclaim.
Speaker 2:So as we step further into this podcast together, let's commit to that kind of honesty. If you're listening to this right now and carrying something heavy, know this you don't have to pretend. Not here, not with God, not with the people he's given you and maybe part of practicing. This is simple. When someone asks, how are you, risk the real answer. When a friend says I've been struggling, resist the urge to fix. Instead, lean in with compassion. Carry that weight as best you can, because carrying is what Christ did for us. He took up our burden, even the burden of sin and death, and bore it on his shoulders at the cross. How do we fulfill his law? By doing for one another what he already did for us.
Speaker 2:This forge is not here to make us look polished. It's here to make us honest, and in that honesty God does his deepest work. The forge is not a place of comfort. If you've ever seen blacksmithing, you know it's fire that roars, heat that makes metal glow and hammer strikes that echo loudly with each blow. To the casual observer it can look harsh like something is being destroyed, but to the skilled blacksmith, every moment in the heat is purposeful, each strike is carefully measured, part of an intentional process. And isn't that what life with God so often feels? Like Trials, heat, pressure, seasons, where you feel bent, stretched, even broken, and you wonder why this? Why not, why me? And yet scripture tells us those struggles are not wasted. They are not the end.
Speaker 2:James puts it this way in the book of James, chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Now let's be real. Calling trials a joy feels strange. None of us wakes up saying Lord, thank you for this hardship, thank you for this heartbreak. That's not natural. What James is pointing to isn't the enjoyment of pain, it's the outcome of it. Pain isn't good, but God can use it for good. The testing of faith produces perseverance, and perseverance grows us in ways nothing else can Think about.
Speaker 2:The word perseverance it's not just patience, it's endurance, it's the ability to keep going under pressure, to stand when everything in you feels like collapsing. Perseverance is a slow strength, one forged in the fire of challenges. Without trials, our faith might stay fragile and untested, blade, beautiful but brittle. But with trials comes resilience. Hardship tempers faith like heat tempers steel. It takes the raw, unshaped material of belief and hammers it into something we find, something that can actually endure storms. And I want you to notice what James says let perseverance finish its work. That means it's a process, not an instant moment. We don't go through one challenge and suddenly arrive. It's a journey of patience, trust and steady growth. It's hard to wait, hard to endure, but perseverance finishing its work leads to maturity, to being complete, not lacking anything.
Speaker 2:Maybe you're in a season right now where life feels like one long trip through fire and hammer. Maybe you feel weaker, not stronger. Here's what I need you to hear. The fire doesn't mean God is finished with you. The hammer doesn't mean you're being destroyed. What feels like breaking might actually be the process of making.
Speaker 2:Think of the steel in the forge. Every time it's pulled from the fire and struck, it loses something of its old shape, but it gains strength and form. Without the fire or the blows it would remain just raw material, but because of the process it becomes useful, sharp, durable. In the same way, every trial in your life may feel like subtraction, but God is actually adding something to you that comfort never could. Perseverance is the gift the fire gives, and though it doesn't feel like much of a gift in the moment, it becomes the foundation for maturity. So, instead of seeing your trial as evidence of God's abandonment. What if you saw it as evidence of his craftsmanship, instead of saying God has left me? What if you prayed? God is shaping me. It doesn't mean you have to enjoy the pain. It doesn't mean you call suffering sweet. What it does mean is you can trust that even this is not wasted. Even this fire, even this hammer, will one day reveal perseverance and maturity in you that nothing else could have produced. That's the paradox of the forge what feels like breaking often turns out to be making, and what looks like destruction is actually the beginning of transformation.
Speaker 2:One of the things I find most powerful about scripture is its refusal to photoshop the struggles of people of faith. The Bible is raw in its honesty. It does not give us a lineup of untouchable saints who always got it right. It gives us men and women who struggled, who doubted, who wept, who even questioned God, and yet somehow found him in the middle of that honesty. Take David this is the shepherd boy who became king, the warrior poet, the one scripture calls a man after God's own heart. And yet if you read his psalm, slowly lingering on the words, you are struck less by his triumphs and more by his cries. How long, o Lord, will you forget me forever? Why do you hide your face from me? Psalm 13, chapter 1. This is not a man pretending to have it all together. This is a man who lets his soul pour out before God without a filter.
Speaker 2:Or Jeremiah the prophet, known as the weeping prophet. His book is filled with lamentations that sound almost shocking coming from the mouth of a prophet. He mourned over Jerusalem's fall, grieved for a people who would not turn their hearts to God, and wrote entire passages that read like sorrow dripping onto the page. Jeremiah shows us that faithful obedience to God does not mean constant joy. Sometimes obedience means carrying a word no one wants to hear and mourning inside it.
Speaker 2:Then there's Elijah. We remember him calling down fire from heaven in a bold showdown with the prophets of Baal. Few moments in scripture seem so triumphant. And yet what happens next? In the very next chapter, elijah flees into the wilderness, hides under a broom tree and prays that God would take his life.
Speaker 2:1 Kings, chapter 19, verse 4. Think of this contrast. You have public victory followed immediately by private despair. And how does God respond? Not with scolding, but with presence. An angel brings him food and water. God meets Elijah not in fire or wind or earthquake, but in a gentle whisper. And of course, job.
Speaker 2:Perhaps no figure embodies raw honesty more than Job. In his suffering, he loses his health, his wealth, his children and his reputation. And what does he do? He sits in ashes, tears his clothes and curses the very day of his birth. Job, chapter 3, verse 1. He wrestles out loud with questions most of us have whispered in the dark why is this happening? Where are you, god? What did I do to deserve this? And yet Job's honesty is included in scripture, not erased, not condemned. Do you see the thread?
Speaker 2:Real faith is not about denial. It is not slapping a smile over anguish or sweeping hard questions under the rug. Real faith means dragging those questions into God's presence, trusting that his shoulders are big enough to carry them. This is important for us in the forge. Fire doesn't have patience for masks. The forge strips away polished, pretending performance. What remains is truth, the raw cry of the heart, and that is exactly where God is pleased to meet us.
Speaker 2:For some of you, that should come as freeing news. Maybe you've carried this assumption that if you wrestle, you're failing. That if you question you're being faithless. That if you cry out in despair. You've somehow disqualified yourself spiritually. But the testimony of scripture says otherwise. Wrestling has always been part of walking with God. Crying out has always been part of the relationship. Honest lament has always been welcomed in his presence. So don't be afraid to be raw before God. Don't filter your prayers until you think they sound holy enough. God already knows the ache in your chest. He's not surprised by your questions. He isn't repelled by your lament. He actually invites it. The forge is not a place for performance. It, he actually invites it. The forge is not a place for performance. It is a place for truth, and truth, no matter how messy, is always where transformation begins.
Speaker 2:If there is any part of the forge that can feel unbearable, it is the silence. Pain, at least, feels active, tears feel like motion, but the silence that can crush you because it convinces you that you've been abandoned. Some of you know that feeling well. Prayers that echo back empty Scriptures that blur into words on a page, nights where the ceiling seems to press down on you because God feels so far away. Silence can be louder than noise. It can scream accusations of absence. But here is the truth that scripture repeats again and again Silence is not abandonment, absence is not the same as hiddenness. God's word anchors us in his presence, even when our emotions argue otherwise.
Speaker 2:Listen to Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. That's a promise, not poetry. I am with you. He doesn't say if you feel me, he says he is. He doesn't offer probability, he offers certainty.
Speaker 2:Psalm, chapter 34, verse 18, says the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Brokenness doesn't disqualify you from His presence, it draws Him near. And then Romans 8, verses 38-39, crowns the promise with this assurance. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing, not fear, not failure, not silence, not sorrow, nothing can separate you from His presence.
Speaker 2:The problem is that silence feels like proof of abandonment. But feelings don't always tell the truth. That's why we anchor not in emotions, but in promises, and sometimes presence doesn't look dramatic, sometimes it looks ordinary. Presence can be the courage to simply breathe in the morning. Presence can be the text from a friend right when you needed encouragement. Presence can be the unexplainable peace that shows up in the middle of chaos. These quiet things are not small. They are evidence that God is near even when he feels hidden. If the forge teaches us anything, it is that silence is not synonymous with absence. God does his forming, not only in the seasons of fire and sound, but even in the stillness. He holds you, not only when you feel him, but when you simply trust his promise that he's there. Silence might feel crushing, but it is never the end, not with God.
Speaker 2:One of the heaviest lies many of us carry is the belief that struggle equals failure. The thought creeps in. If I were truly spiritual, if I really trusted God, I wouldn't wrestle like this. Maybe you've heard that whispered inside your heart. Maybe you've even had it spoken over you, someone telling you that weakness or doubt makes you less of a Christian. But that idea falls apart as soon as we look at Paul.
Speaker 2:Here's a man who saw visions of heaven, preached throughout the Mediterranean world, wrote letters that became the backbone of the New Testament and performed miracles in Jesus' name. He was bold, relentless, steadfast. And yet Paul himself admits to carrying what he calls a thorn in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, he tells us about it. We don't know exactly what it was. Some scholars think it may have been a physical ailment poor eyesight perhaps, or chronic sickness. Others suggest it was spiritual opposition or an ongoing temptation. Whatever the case, paul describes it as torment. And so he did what you or I would do he begged God to take it away. Three separate times. He fell before the Lord and pleaded for relief. God, remove this weakness. God, I can't carry this anymore. Have you ever prayed that way for something to just be lifted, for a battle to finally be done? Paul did too, but the answer he received wasn't what he expected.
Speaker 2:God didn't remove the thorn. Instead, he spoke into Paul's weakness these words my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Think about that. Perfect in weakness, not in Paul's gifting, not in his strength, not in his moments of brilliance or courage, but in his weakness. The very thing Paul wanted erased. God used as the stage to show his glory, and Paul's reaction is startling Once he heard that truth, he stopped begging for the thorn to be removed. Instead, he actually shifted his entire outlook. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Speaker 2:Boasting weakness, who does that? We spend our lives trying to hide our flaws, cover our struggles and manage appearances, but Paul says no, this is where the power of Christ shows up. God doesn't need your mask. His grace shines brightest through cracks. His strength flows through the places where you feel insufficient. So let me say this clearly your weakness is not your disqualification. Your battle doesn't mean you're unusable. Instead, those very scars, those very struggles, those very vulnerabilities may be the exact tools God uses for his kingdom. Because when the world sees you enduring, still following Jesus through difficulty, still trusting him through tears, they know that power is not yours, it's his.
Speaker 2:Think of it like the forge again. Steel doesn't shine in the fire without being tested by heat. The hammer's blow doesn't crush it permanently, it refines it into its final form. Weakness feels like breaking, but in God's hands it becomes shaping. So if you're listening today and you've begged God for relief over and over again, if you've cried Lord, take this away, and still you carry it. I want you to hear this your weakness is not wasted. His grace is sufficient. His power isn't diminished because you're weak. It is put on fullest display. That is the paradox of the forge. Often, the very places we would edit out of our story are the same places God chooses as the pulpit of his strength. If honesty matters in the forge, then we cannot avoid the topic of failure Because, let's be real, every one of us has failed. Not just small mistakes, but gut-level, shame-drenched failures, the kind you replay at night and wince at all over again, the kind where you whisper surely God is done with me now. If failure were the end of the story, then Peter would have been finished.
Speaker 2:Out of all Jesus' disciples, peter was the one most outspoken, most bold, most confident. He was the first to declare Jesus as the Messiah. He was the one who said loudly that was Peter's vow. And yet, hours later, when Jesus was arrested, that vow crumbled as Jesus' prophecy came true. Peter was confronted not once, not twice, but three times. Each time, fear gripped him. Each time he denied, even knowing Jesus. In Luke's account, the third denial finished just as the rooster crowed.
Speaker 2:In Scripture says, jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Can you imagine that? Look the weight of it, peter's bravado melting into shame. The one who swore loyalty had collapsed. Luke tells us, peter went outside and wept bitterly. That's what failure feels like Bitter, crushing Final. And yet the story didn't end there.
Speaker 2:After the resurrection, jesus went after Peter On the shores of Galilee. In John, chapter 21,. The disciples were fishing when Jesus met them with breakfast. It is there by a fire of burning coals, perhaps reminiscent of the fire where Peter had made his denials that. Jesus asked Peter not once, but three times do you love me? Each denial is answered with an affirmation, three stumbles, three restorations. And with each affirmation, jesus commissions Peter again feed my sheep, take care of my lambs, follow me. Do you see the grace in that? Jesus doesn't erase Peter's failure, he redeems it. Peter's denial is not the end of his story. It becomes the backdrop against which grace shines all the brighter. And from that moment forward we see a Peter transformed, not a man paralyzed by shame, but a man empowered by mercy.
Speaker 2:On the day of Pentecost, peter stands up and preaches boldly, and thousands are added to the faith. The coward becomes the leader, the failure becomes the shepherd. What does that mean for us. It means your failure doesn't disqualify you either. Your story is not over the denials. You regret the mistakes. You carry the moments of weakness that feel like they define you. They are not the end. Just as Jesus met Peter by a fire and restored him, he can meet you in your place of failure and recommission you. So if you hear nothing else today, hear this. Failure is not final in the kingdom of God. In fact, it may be the very place where grace shows itself most clearly. Just ask Peter. There is one truth that carries us through the forge more than any other you never walk through the fire alone. God is always present. That does not mean the fire won't burn. It does not mean the enemy won't chase, but it does mean that in every impossible moment, the Lord himself is near.
Speaker 2:Think about Israel at the edge of the Red Sea. They had just been freed from slavery, only to find themselves pinned between Pharaoh's chariots and a wall of water. Terror rose like a flood. From every angle, their destruction looked certain. Yet at that moment God said to Moses raise your staff. And when he did, the water split. Walls of sea stood up on either side and God's people passed through on dry land. The very waters that threatened to drown them became their pathway of deliverance. And just so they would not doubt his nearness, the angel of God and the pillar of cloud moved behind to shield them from Pharaoh's armies until the last Israelite reached safety. Or think of Joshua, years later, leading a new generation toward the promised land.
Speaker 2:Once again, water blocked their way to Jordan River at flood stage. Once again, god made his presence unmistakable, but this time he asked the people to step forward in faith. The priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God's presence, were told to place their feet in the Russian current, and the moment their souls touched the river stopped flowing and, piled up in a heap, israel walked across on dry ground. What does that mean? That God's presence pictured in the Ark did not stay safely on shore. It stepped into the torrent first. He did not wait on the other side. Arms crossed, he entered the waters with his people.
Speaker 2:Both stories reveal a God who is present, not at a distance, but right in the middle of impossible circumstances. That's why Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10, rings so true. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. This is more than comfort. It's covenant. God's presence is not conditional, it is promised.
Speaker 2:And yet, let's be real, when you are in the middle of the fire, it does not feel like glory. It does not necessarily look like parted seas or rivers stopped in their tracks. Sometimes it looks like waking up one more morning when you thought you couldn't. Sometimes it looks like a gentle text from a friend showing up at the exact moment of your despair. Sometimes it looks like unexplainable peace, just enough to carry you through today, even when tomorrow feels impossible. The forge reminds us God doesn't just deliver us from fire, he walks with us through it. He is the shield behind, the strength within the savior ahead. And when you realize that the fire loses its power to destroy, it can refine, yes, it can burn away what was never meant to stay, but it cannot consume you. You never walk through the furnace alone.
Speaker 2:One of the toughest truths of discipleship is this Following Jesus is not a path of comfort, it is a call to surrender. Our culture constantly tells us to avoid pain, chase convenience and secure control. But Jesus, his invitation, cuts in the opposite direction In the book of Luke, chapter 9, verse 23,. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. A cross, think about that. Jesus doesn't sugarcoat what discipleship demands. A cross is an instrument of death.
Speaker 2:To take up your cross daily is to live in continual surrender, to let go of pride, plans and the illusion of control. Daily, not occasionally. And yet here's the paradox at the heart of our faith Surrender does not lead to diminishment, it opens the door to life. Giving up what we cannot keep allows us to receive what we cannot lose. The book of James echoes this truth. In chapter 1, verses 2-4,. James writes Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Once again, surrender and perseverance are linked. None of us would ever label trials as joy in the moment, but James isn't asking us to call hardship pleasant. He's reminding us that perseverance forged in the fire leads to maturity, and maturity is the whole point. We are being formed into people who look like Jesus, who mirror His patience, humility and endurance.
Speaker 2:Taking up your cross daily means choosing the way of surrender each morning. Sometimes that looks like trusting God with an unknown future instead of clinging to control. Sometimes it looks like resisting the easier compromise in favor of obedience. Sometimes it looks like persevering in the silence, believing God has not abandoned you. It's not fun, it's not flashy, but it's real discipleship.
Speaker 2:The forge once again becomes our picture here. Fire bends steel Hammer shapes it. Nothing about the process is comfortable. Yet every moment has purpose. When you surrender to the blacksmith's blows, you are not destroyed, you are reshaped for use. The alternative would be to never enter the forge at all, to remain raw metal, safe perhaps, but never formed into the tool you were meant to be. Maybe right now your surrender looks small, a prayer whispered through tears, a choice to forgive, a commitment to take the next step, even while afraid. Maybe it looks costly, letting go of a dream, yielding a future, stepping into obedience that you don't fully understand. Wherever you are, know this Surrender opens the path to strength. Take up your cross. Let perseverance complete its work. Trust the blacksmith's hand. The process is painful, but the product is worth it.
Speaker 2:Here's a truth we need to cling to. In the fire. The forge doesn't last forever. I know when you're in the middle of it days stretch long and nights feel endless. Grief slows time. Pain makes it feel like tomorrow will never come. But scripture reminds us that this is not permanent. The fire is for a season. The shaping has an end. The suffering has its conclusion.
Speaker 2:The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 16 through 17,. Therefore, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Those words are astonishing when you remember who wrote them. Paul was not a man writing from an easy life. He knew beatings, imprisonments, betrayals, hunger, shipwrecks, sleepless nights and persecution. He watched friends abandon him. He endured a thorn in the flesh that never lifted, his life overflowed with pain. Yet somehow he can look at all of it and still call it light and momentary. How did he do this? It's because he compared it not to his feelings, but to eternity.
Speaker 2:Glory set beside suffering makes even the heaviest burdens look small. When you zoom out far enough to glimpse eternity, the fire loses its absolute power. It is real, yes, but it is not final. Here is the amazing paradox even as our bodies wear down, our souls can grow stronger. Paul reminds us inwardly. We are being renewed day by day. The fire may be draining your strength, your comfort, even your health, but in ways you can't always see. God is building something deeper endurance, faith, resilience. That's the mystery and the gift of Christian hope.
Speaker 2:But we need to be clear about something no one endures the forge alone. Renewal often comes through community. This isn't a one person show, and the writer of Ecclesiastes understood that when he wrote in chapter 4, verses 9 through 10,. Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. How many times does the fire feel unbearable, not because of its heat, but because of our aloneness? How many tears fall heavier in isolation? God gave us one another. For this very reason. Two are better than one. We steady one another, we remind one another of promises when our memory feels blank. We carry each other's weight when our own legs buckle.
Speaker 2:And let's not forget the witness of scars. The forge leaves marks. Those marks are not shame, they are testimony. A scar you carry is proof that the fire did not consume you. It shouts that you made it through.
Speaker 2:Even Jesus chose to keep his scars. After his resurrection he could have wiped his body completely clean, but when he appeared to the disciples, thomas doubted. He said unless he saw the nail marks and placed his hand in Jesus' side, he would not believe. And what did Jesus do? He showed him the scars, because scars tell the truth. The nail marks declared yes, I suffered, yes, I died, but death did not win. I am alive. Your scars can speak the same truth to others. They say yes, I wept. Yes, I walked through fire. Yes, I bear marks of what I faced, but God was faithful and by his grace I'm still standing. So when you look at your scars, don't despise them. Let them remind you that, even if the forge scorched you, it did not destroy you. And let them become encouragement for another traveler still in the fire, because in the end, the forge is temporary, glory is eternal. Pain fades, renewal grows and not one scar will be wasted. They will all become part of the testimony to his faithfulness.
Speaker 2:As we close out this first episode of the Kingdom Forge podcast, I want to remind you again of the heart of the message. The Forge is not destruction, it is transformation. God does not waste your fire. He is shaping you, refining you, preparing you for more than you can see right now. But here's the real question have you surrendered your life to the God who shapes, the God who saves? All the encouragement in the world won't mean much if you don't belong to Him first. The truth is every single one of us is broken.
Speaker 2:Scripture says in Romans, chapter 3, verse 23,. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin separates us from Him, but the good news is Jesus came to bridge that gap. Romans, chapter 6, verse 23, tells us For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus carried your burdens, he bore your sins on the cross. He walked into the ultimate fire so you wouldn't have to face it alone. And if you've never given him your yes, if you've never invited him to be Lord and Savior of your life, I can't think of a better moment than right now. It's not about having perfect words or trying to fix yourself first. It's about surrender, trusting Jesus with all that you are. All you have to do is call on him.
Speaker 2:Romans, chapter 10, verse 9, promises if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. That's it Faith, confession, surrender. So if this message has stirred something in your heart, I encourage you, don't wait. Pray a simple prayer from wherever you're listening, even if it's just Jesus. I believe in you. Forgive my sins, be my Lord and Savior. Shape me in your and.
Speaker 2:As we close, I have two invitations for you. First, if this episode has touched you, if God has spoken to you in some way, share it. Don't keep it to yourself. Someone in your circle, be it family, friend or coworker, may be walking through their own forge right now. They may desperately need the reminder that they are not alone, that God is still working, that grace is real. Be bold, send this to them, post it, invite them into this community. You never know how God might use a simple share to change someone's direction. Second, don't forget to stay connected. Follow this podcast so you don't miss future episodes as we walk deeper into the realities of faith, fire and transformation. And if you want more resources to strengthen your walk, connect with us at graceandgrindministriescom. There you'll find not just this podcast but other teachings, articles and tools designed to help you grow stronger in your faith journey.
Speaker 2:I'll leave you with one final encouragement from Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6. Being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. God isn't done with you. The fire is not the end of your story. What he started in you, he will finish. So walk forward with confidence, knowing you are being shaped with a purpose. This is not the end, this is the forge, and through it all, he is making you new. Thank you for joining me. This has been the very first episode of the Kingdom Forge podcast. Share it, follow and invite someone else into the journey. And remember always the forge is not your destruction, it's your transformation. God bless.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Kingdom Forge podcast Raw faith. Thanks for listening to the Kingdom Forge podcast Raw faith real struggle, true transformation. If today's episode spoke to you, be sure to follow the podcast and share it with someone who may need encouragement in their faith journey and for more resources to help you grow, visit graceandgrindministriescom. Remember the forge is not your destruction, it's your transformation. Until next time, god bless.
